Brain Scans Are Being Used to Test a New Feel-Good Condom Design

If the sensation of a penis wrapped in latex is a turnoff for you (and maybe your partner, too), here's some good news: Scientists are developing a condom that feels like human tissue. Researchers from the University of Wollongong and the University of Swinburne in Australia are not only engineering the GELdom, a condom made from skin-mimicking materials called hydrogels, but also investigating how our brains react to their touch.

In a pilot experiment that conjures some pretty amusing images, the scientists had each subject stroke different materials, including the hydrogels as well as standard latex, 80 times while hooked up to electroencephalogram (EEG) machines that measure electrical activity in the brain. They found that when people touched the GELdom material, their brain activity indicated a strong emotional reaction. "We also got a perceptual novelty response, as in 'oh that's different, I want to feel more of that,'" Joseph Ciorciari, director of the Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre at Swinburne University, told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Since some may not find it particularly sexy to caress latex—or to wear it, for that matter—but the GELdom could be promising for those who want safe sex that still feels authentic, giving both condom-wearers and those in contact with condom-clad penises a more realistic experience.

However, the researchers' mission is bigger than sexual pleasure. "The lack of condom use, partially due to stigmas around a decrease in sensation, affects the health and well-being of many people in developing countries today," the team's website reads. By increasing condom usage, this new class of contraception could reduce STIs.

But it looks like you won't be seeing the GELdom on drugstore shelves just yet — phase two of the study is set to begin early in 2016. Perhaps within the next few years, though, all our brains will have the chance to experience the "perceptual novelty" of hydrogels.